SIMON: A mobile robot for floor contamination surveys

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:10134008

Dudar, E; Teese, G; Wagner, D

The Robotics Development group at the Savannah River Site is developing an autonomous robot to perform radiological surveys of potentially contaminated floors. The robot scans floors at a speed of one-inch/second and stops, sounds an alarm, and flashes lights when contamination in a certain area is detected. The contamination of interest here is primarily alpha and beta-gamma. The contamination levels are low to moderate. The robot, a Cybermotion K2A, is radio controlled, uses dead reckoning to determine vehicle position, and docks with a charging station to replenish its batteries and calibrate its position. It has an ultrasonic collision avoidance system as well as two safety bumpers that will stop the robot`s motion when they are depressed. Paths for the robot are preprogrammed and the robot`s motion can be monitored on a remote screen which shows a graphical map of the environment. The radiation instrument being used is an Eberline RM22A monitor. This monitor is microcomputer based with a serial I/O interface for remote operation. Up to 30 detectors may be configured with the RM22A. For our purposes, two downward-facing gas proportional detectors are used to scan floors, and one upward-facing detector is used for radiation background compensation. SIMON is interfaced with the RM22A in such a way that it scans the floor surface at one-inch/second, and if contamination is detected, the vehicle stops, alarms, and activates a voice synthesizer. Future development includes using the contamination data collected to provide a graphical contour map of a contaminated area. 3 refs.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-89SR18035
• OSTI ID: 10134008
• Report Number(s): WSRC-MS--91-189; CONF-9110344--7; ON: DE92010040
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
420203
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540130
ALPHA PARTICLES
BETA PARTICLES
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
CONTAMINATION
DESIGN
FLOORS
GAMMA RADIATION
HANDLING EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES
INSPECTION
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
REMOTE CONTROL
ROBOTS
SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT